why i think mages need to be treated a little differently from the team is this.... EVERYTHING you just mentioned, can be done by the FF in the same capacity and sometimes faster.
Humans can purify a fulm or corrupt for FREE heals? the tiny bandages already heal well enought to match a Fatmage Greater Heal, and that's the small bandage. The Potions heal WAAAAAY faster than mages because of terrible cast times especially on bigger spells that cost too much to cast reliably. Mages are a liability in a group fight that lasts to long. they oom and become nothing more useless than a Tampon that already fell in the pool, or a condom with a hole in it.
With the Full range of things you mentioned can you imagine a shot caller or random teammates asking for all those things at once? the mana bar just doesnt keep up. out of all the classes it has the worst sustain in a fight especially if you try to do big heals or damage. But trying to throw out discount spells when Everyone hits you for half your health bar or more is not playing on an even playing field.
the other thing is now the fact that everything outdoes you at everything regardless of the skill cap you are at. can you beat a noob? yeah sure, plenty of videos of that out there. can mages even compete at the highest lvl of pvp? NO shot.
and yeah it looks like there are magic schools on the way... but how many Weapon types are there for Melee? 7/8 with no fist weapons yet, and how many variations of those are there in each category and split between 1H and 2H that give you options on good damage and speed. with Fist weapons on the way Dual strike and Tipple strike on the way. and Archers already have more and different combos of wood types and Animal parts to make end game stuff, and they are really strong and efficient. and can out dps and interupt a mage with just simple sustain even without the best bow
I appreciate the different way you came at this conversation, i'm actually able to see clear points in your response, and able to hold a convo, i appreciate that and thanks for stopping in,
Foot fighters can't corrupt or fulminate PvE or PvP enemies.
Bandages have a longer animation, make you put your weapon away, and have an internal cooldown. The only thing the same is a mage can't have his weapons out (But in MO1 you couldn't even have things equipped to cast. So buff in MO2)
Mages who can manage their mana effectively are the ones that win the long fights for their team. What are you spamming in fights?
It does. I've been in groups of 30 in MO2 and had less mages then wanted and they kept up just fine. We just taught them right I suppose.
Again, not sure what spells you're using frequently. Not going to sit here and give you a guide on playing mage in a group fight but you don't OOM quickly if you're smart.
You need mages at the highest level of PvP. The game is a parry simulator, mages break the monotony of it.
Oh. I feel like I'm watching Yu-Gi-Oh with how you stepped onto my trap card. How many melee weapons are actually
viable in fights?
Think about it. Blunt weapons currently have no chipping / punch through on parries, and the ones that do are extremely slow and at most do 2 to 3 damage (Which is nothing). One handed weapons although buffed recently are still extremely low on the totem pole. One handed axes are still awful, one handed maces are decent as well as one handed swords - but the speed and stamina drain on them are still abysmal. Most two handed hammers have extremely harsh head hitboxes meaning you handle hit a lot with them. Spears are fine for the most part, daggers are too but have incredibly ass range. Axes I suppose are decent, but lack super good mix-ups, poleswords feel fine for the most part and poleaxes are basically another example of bad head hitboxes - but some can suffice.
More weapons =/= More variety. Where as in MO1 I can directly translate that the more magic schools mages got, the more busted they got. Did you play MO1? Have you ever been to a siege in MO1 with Necromancy and Elementalism being used? Wait until it enters MO2. HOLY FUCK it's gonna be busted.
Fist weapons were a mistake in MO1 especially with the balancing and the use of triple strike which did literally 200+ damage against people in cronite. Should they be a thing? Yes. Should they be that fucking OP, no.
Archers are a support role like mages. I'm sure you could argue they could switch to melee weapons, but just like mages if they get pushed they have to run and swap. Mages have outburst. Outburst is fucking over powered (in a good way). I've killed so many people outbursting them as they run because of the ridiculous range on it.
And no problem. The thing is a lot of people in the MO community, and I'm not saying you are doing this currently, take what others say and twist and or misconstrue it to strengthen their own argument. Usually accompanying it with strawmanning and belittling. Happens a lot.
I just feel like mages ARE good because I've played one, I've played a hybrid, and I've played a fat mage. I think I'm an above average player and I've played in other groups that were filled with other above average players and a lot of these issues were mitigated with game sense and coordination.
Honestly, I hate how they've killed hybrids. That's the only thing I really detest about magic.